Drag to rotate · scroll or pinch to zoom · Esc to close
Drag to rotate · tap any point to read it
Planetary Health Check · 2026
For 11,000 years, Earth held itself in a steady, generous state — and human civilization grew up inside it. Scientists have mapped the nine Planetary Boundaries that keep that world stable: the safe range for our climate, our oceans, our forests, the air we breathe. We have now pushed past seven of them. Scroll, and watch the planet respond — one boundary at a time.
Scroll to beginBoundary 1 of 9
This is a tally of all the extra heat that our greenhouse gases trap near Earth's surface, like an ever-thickening blanket. That heat build-up now sits deep in the high-risk zone.
Climate Change · A closer look
Every day since 1940, sorted by how far it sat from a chosen normal — watch the distribution march to the right. Click any year to inspect it.
Daily global-mean 2 m temperature · ERA5 · C3S/ECMWF · baseline 1850–1900
Boundary 2 of 9
As the sea soaks up our carbon dioxide, its water slowly turns more acidic, making it harder for corals, shellfish and tiny plankton to build their shells and skeletons. The ocean has just slipped past its safe boundary.
Boundary 3 of 9
To grow more food, we flood the planet with nitrogen from factory-made fertiliser, far more than crops can absorb. The excess pollutes our air, soil and water, making this one of the most severely overshot boundaries.
Boundary 4 of 9
Blue water is the liquid water flowing in our rivers, lakes and underground stores. We now draw off so much that natural flows are disturbed in ways that harm freshwater life, pushing this boundary into the risk zone.
Boundary 5 of 9
Forests cool the climate, anchor the soil and shelter countless species. So much forest has been cleared for farms and cities that this boundary is now breached.
Boundary 6 of 9
Species are vanishing far faster than they would naturally, burning through the living library of genes that lets ecosystems recover from shocks and adapt to change. This boundary is deeply breached.
Boundary 7 of 9
These are substances humans invent that nature never had to cope with — plastics, synthetic chemicals, radioactive waste. We release them far faster than we can test whether they are safe, so this boundary is judged breached.
Boundary 8 of 9
Tiny airborne specks from pollution, wildfire and dust dim the sunlight and can shift where rain falls. Looking at the whole planet, the imbalance between the northern and southern halves is still within the safe zone.
Boundary 9 of 9
High in the sky, the ozone layer is a natural sunscreen that shields life from harmful ultraviolet rays. After the world agreed to ban the chemicals that were eating it away, it is slowly healing — and stays safely within its boundary.
The story isn't over
A boundary crossed is not a door locked behind us. We have proof: the ozone layer — once tearing open above our heads — is knitting back together because, for once, the whole world chose to act. The same is still possible for the carbon we burn, the forests we clear, the living web of species we share this planet with. None of these breaches are permanent yet. What we do in this decade decides which Earth the next generation inherits — and that part is still ours to write.